Economic Official's Stay Extended

MARGATE — For months, Jeff Oris has worked without knowing whether he'd be around for the Christmas office party.

But Oris gets to stay on the job as economic development coordinator at City Hall -- at least until Feb. 16, city commissioners decided Wednesday evening.

Commissioners postponed a decision on whether to remove Oris' job from the fiscal year 2000 budget. In that budget, Oris would earn $47,774 annually.

Commissioner Pam Donovan, who unsuccessfully tried to eliminate Oris' job in September, voted to postpone the decision because she received a report detailing his job description at the last minute, she said.

"I want to see this city actively go out and help the business community," she said when asked what she'd like to see from Oris by February.

Helping business happens to be a large part of what Oris does, he said. His job centers on bringing commerce to the city and serving as a liaison between commercial interests and City Hall.

That's a precarious position in Margate, where the tax base has remained flat largely because of the limited space to build new businesses.

Further, economic development has become a hot political issue in the city, and the postponed decision on Oris' job would come less than a month before the March 14 municipal election.

"I don't think it's fair to hang someone's job over their head and ask him to perform," said Chris Modlin, chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency board on which Oris serves as executive director. "For that reason, I'm hoping that it will go away."